Author’s articles
In May, Ukrainian entrepreneurs received 569 loans totalling 3.7 billion hryvnia under the state guarantee scheme. This scheme helps banks to lend to micro, small and medium-sized businesses, even when the risks to the economy remain high due to the war.
Russian security officials are reportedly urging Vladimir Putin to postpone or effectively cancel the upcoming State Duma elections. According to Russian media reports, the reasons cited include economic problems, a fall in United Russia’s approval ratings and the consequences of Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian territory.
On 24 June, the geomagnetic situation remains calm, although several active regions and coronal holes have been observed on the Sun. According to experts’ forecasts, as early as 25–26 June, the Earth’s magnetic field may become more active due to a solar wind outflow.
Журналісти «Бабеля» встановили щонайменше 26 небойових смертей серед новобранців 425-го окремого штурмового полку «Скеля» за період від кінця осені 2025 року до весни 2026-го. У розслідуванні йдеться про скарги родичів на несвоєчасну медичну допомогу, свідчення про побиття, знущання та суїциди. У полку заперечують системність насильства і заявляють про готовність до перевірок.
Russia is using Africa as a platform for information operations, intelligence activities and the expansion of its military influence. According to Andriy Chernyak, a spokesperson for the Main Intelligence Directorate, Moscow operates through the ‘African Corps’, organisations under its control, disinformation campaigns and structures linked to Russian diplomatic missions.
The Audit Office has approved the report on the findings of the first financial audit of the Supreme Court. The auditors confirmed the court’s financial and budgetary accounts for 2025, but identified certain significant discrepancies in the accounting for assets, state property and transactions involving budgetary funds.
The municipal enterprise ‘Mykolaivvodokanal’ has announced a tender for the services of a debt collection agency to deal with water bill debtors. The company is prepared to pay 1.24 million UAH for this, and plans to transfer consumer debts totalling 6.2 million UAH to the debt collectors.
Ukraine’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Andriy Sibiga, held a meeting with Japan’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ayano Kunimitsu. The diplomats discussed the situation on the front line, military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, support for Ukraine and the involvement of Japanese businesses in the reconstruction effort.
The former director of the Olympic Village children’s camp in the Kyiv region, where a 10-year-old boy died in 2023, has been detained in Montenegro. The court has already issued an arrest warrant for her extradition, and the Ukrainian prosecution service is preparing the necessary procedures to bring the suspect back to Ukraine.
A suspected scheme involving the illegal diversion of gas for the operation of a local boiler house has been uncovered in Chernivtsi. According to Naftogaz’s estimates, the losses amount to at least 87.5 million hryvnias, and the case files have already been handed over to the law enforcement authorities.
Roman Bezsmertny, a former Ukrainian ambassador to Belarus, diplomat and politician, considers a new ground offensive against Ukraine from the Belarusian direction to be unlikely. At the same time, he stated that Alexander Lukashenko’s regime remains an ally of Russia, and that Belarusian territory may continue to be used for strikes, sabotage and as military infrastructure for the Russian Federation.
Hungary has blocked yet another procedural step in the negotiations on Ukraine and Moldova’s accession to the European Union. Budapest’s stance has put the plan to open all negotiation chapters by mid-July 2026 at risk.
